Primary initial teacher education students’ views and reflections on mathematical challenge and its demands

In this article, we report on an aspect of a study related to the implementation of challenging mathematical tasks in an initial teacher education program. Challenging mathematical tasks are complex, requiring problem solving and reasoning capabilities. Data collection consisted of a survey and a focus group interview administered after the implementation of tasks. Tasks were designed to include the challenged necessary to generate student productive struggle. Data analysis used both quantitative (descriptive statistics) and qualitative (content analysis) methods. An outcome of the study was the generation of a framework for the Design and Implementation of Challenging Online Mathematical Tasks (DICOMT). Data analysis indicated that initial teacher education students held reservations about the implementation of challenging mathematical tasks in school classrooms. These reservations appear connected to an uneven understanding of different mathematical topics and pre-existing beliefs that effective instruction should be based on problems which required familiar routine approaches to finding solutions.